Reversing mechanism for laundry driers



REVERSING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY DRIERS Filed Ag. 23. 192e 4 sheets-sheet 1 E MSDTC@ lig..

411116121930. A. c. ALK 1,763,658

REVERSING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY DRIERS Filed Aug. 23, 1926 4,Sheets-Sheet 2 I7 Z5 2; /17 @-2 f ,7

lg f5 h June 17, 1930.

A..c. KALK REVERSING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY DRIERS 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 25, 1926 A. C. KALK June -17, 1930.

` REVERSING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY DRIERS 4 Sheets-Sheef Filed Aug. 23, 1926 JVM. .vlllillll A such machine.

Patented June 17, 1930 ALBERT C. KALK,

EQUIran, s s.

Application mea Augut 2 3, 1926. "senat in. 'iainza This invention relates to a reversing mechanism primarily designed `for d"riersfbutl susillustrate apreferred embodiment of this in-` `ventio'n, and 1n which similar reference numerals referto snnilarlfeatures in the diife'rent views:

"l Figure `1 is an end elevational view of a drying machine to which thisl invention 'is lapplied.``

"Fi'gure 2 is a part elevational and part sectional View ofthe operating mechanism for Figure .3 1s a top plan view of the structure shown in" Figure 2.

Figure is a sectional view upon the line 30, I V- l.V of Figure 2.* "l

Q Figure lis la fragmentary elevational view looking at the 'right hand side of Figure A45. Figureis afsectional view takensu'bstanvtially upon thejline Vl- VI of Figure'fl. 35 il igure is a's'ectional view taken upon the lineLVI-L-Vlof Figure 6.'

8 is an enlarged sectional view taken substanti l ly upon the lineYIlIVIlI of Figure5f'v j t Figure 9 is a sectional view taken upon the line y'Qf Figure 1. Figure.10isfasectional view taken upon thel'rX'fX of Figure 9 'il Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary elevati-nal view .through a'belt shifter.

Figure1`2 is an elevational view of a modi! fied? forni j'of' supportingframe for the driv- Figureiis a sectiOnalview taken upon thefl XI I'I;-XI II'of yFigure 12.'

n10ustiiigf parts ofthe machine for varying theV l like.

Figure 14 is a view taken substantially `uponthe line.XIV-:X 1V of Figure 12.

1 In th'edrawing there is shown a cylindricalrllrying machine comprising av cylinder L1,

'gear 2,*which`is coaX'ially secured'withre- 55 spect tothe cylinder, a pinion 3 for rotatingf said gear,L anda belt vdrivefor rotating said gear.. It may be "mentioned that the Lgear; 3

-of loose pulleys 5 and'G are mounted'w'ith an 60 intermediate pulley 7 4'which is fast upon said shaft 'cros'sed belt 8 istrained over the pulley 5 and awiderblt 9 is trained overfthe'pulleys 6 and-7. It'will be noted that the pulley "Gis' wider than the pulley 5, to accommodate 65 "the wider belt 9." However, when the belt 9 is shiftedupon thepulley 7 it will still voverlap a portion of the pulley 6 as'shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 for a purpose'that will i later" appear. These belts are shown'as eX- V70 tending downwardly and Vtrained over a* drum 10 which is operatively connectedto a vmotor 11 bythe gears 12 and 13. However,

instead of drivingthe belts vby the motor 11, theylmay extend upwardly as shown in Figure 12V for c'onnectionjto a line shaft or the A pair of similar belt shifters 14 and 15 are provided. Each' lbelt shifter is provided with a beltguidel'at `on'eend,` and anup- 80 iwardly vextending arm 17 at the other endff Each." arm'has "an arcuate groove 18 which terminates in :aj Vlowery fvertical portion- 19 (I'Figurell) whereby avertical'shoulder20 ,`1s"p1`-ovided for a Vpurpose that will'flatlerl85 appear. V With'refer'enceto Figure 2, it will'l benotedthat theV arms 17 on "the: shifter'sllll and15` slope inj 'opposite directions. f The? belt shiftersljl and 15are"adapted to be actuated 'A rections from the lower corners of the arm`21 and engagejthe grooves 18V in the'arms lf? of the shifter elements.4 rI hearm 21 isl rigidly zsecured upon aA shaft 23 journalledin a suit- 95 "ablecasting 4or1 housing supported `=upon the* y frame of `the machine.- A bifurcated member ing engagement with a shiftable clutch element 26 which is secured in a bushing or plate 27 and is slidably keyed upon the shaft 23. The bifurcated member 24 is adapted to be oscillated by a crank or wrist pin 28 which is eccentrically mounted upon a disk 29 secured upon the upper end of a vertical shaft 30, journalled in the aforementioned casting and housed in a cylinder 3l. A worm 32 is secured upon vthe lower end of the shaft 30, and this worm meshes with a worm gear 33 which is coaxially secured to the pulley 6 and rotates relat-ively to the shaft 4.

Obviously, when the shaft 30 is rotated7 the pin or finger 2S will oscillate the bifurcated member 24 and rock the shaft 23, provided the same is clutched to the shaft. The rocking of the shaft 23 will oscillate the aforementioned arm 2l for shifting the belt Shifters.

` A coil spring 34 surrounds the shaft 23 and normally forces the clutch element 26 into engagement with the bifurcated member Mechanism has, however, been provided for shiftingl the clutch member 26 to inoperative position and maintaining the same in such position. This mechanism consists of a pair of rods 35 best shown in Figure 6. The rods have reduced portions which extend through the clutch bushing 27; the shoulders at the ends of such reduced portions normally abutting the said clutch plate 27. The reduced ends of the rods are slidably supported in the end of the housing 36, and the other ends of said rods extend through the opposite end of said housing. In referring to Figure 8, it will be noted that the last mentioned ends of said rods 35 are rounded or convex for coaction with the sloping faces 37 of cam plates or members 38 which are secured upon the inner side of a vertical slide plate 39. Upon the outer side of the slide plate 39 there are a pair of spaced plates 40 (Fig. 5), the lower ends of which serve as shoulders for engaging a pair of pins 4l projecting from the inner lower corners of a triangular shaped neutral plate 42, which is secured upon the shaft 23. The slide plate 39 is suitably slotted to receive the shaft 23 and to provide for sufficient sliding movement. Then the bifurcated meinber 24 is clutched to the shaft 23, the slide plate 39 will be in elevated position with the cam plate 33 above the rods 5, which will be under the cam surface 37. Now to stop the machine, the slide plate 39 may be pulled downwardly whereby the rods 35 will be forced back and the clutch element 26 carried into inoperative position. At the same time, the shoulders on the plates 40 will engage the pins 4l which may be in a plane oblique to the horizontal, and bring the same into a horizontal plane, thereby rotating the shaft 23 to its neutral position, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 7. It will, of course, be

understood that before the machine can bc started again, the slide plate 39 must be elevated for releasing the clutch and moving out of the operative cycle of the neutral plate.

Mechanism has been provided for operating the slide plate 39. To this end, two pairs of spaced pins or studs 43 extend from the slide plate 39 upon opposite sides ofthe slot therein. These pins provide a way for an operating wrist pin 44 which extends through a crank arm 45 secured upon a shaft 46 which is suitably journalled in the frame. The shaft 46 is provided with a bevel gear 47 (Figure 5) upon one end which meshes with a bevel gear 48 secured upon a shaft 49. The gears 48 and 47 are located in a box or housing 50 secured to a side frame member. The ends of the shafts 46 and 49 are journalled in the walls of this housing 50. From the housing 50, the shaft 49 extends across the end of the cylinder 1 and is journalled in a bearing 5l (Figure 9) confined between the walls 52 and 53 of a bearing box 54 secured upon the side of the frame. A small shaft 55 is slidably mounted in said bearing box and bearing 51 and normally contacts the shaft 49 which is provided with a fiat portion 56 which normally cooperates with the shaft 55 for preventing rotation of said shaft 49. The sha-ft 55 is provided with a groove 57 which is normally in engagement with the shaft 49 so that the same may be rotated by the handle 58.which is fixed upon the end thereof. The shaft 55 carries a pinion 59 which may be shifted into mesh with the driving gear 2 of the cylinder when the shaft 55 is shifted into the position shown in Figure 9. In this position the shaft 55 may be rotated by its crank 60 for rotating the cylinder l to bring the door thereon to the proper position after the machine has been stopped. In this position the shaft 49 is locked against rotation.

In order to prevent undue swinging movement of the crank 60, a frictional retarder 6l is positioned beneath the shaft 55 in a suitable recess provided in the wall of the bearing box 54. As shown in Figure l0, this retarder is in the form of a slide having a (lished-shaped recess 62 directly opposite the shaft 55, and a threaded end 63 upon which a nut 64 is threaded, that engages the side of the bearing. By rotating the nut 64 the slide may be adjusted to frictionally bind against the shaft 55 to apply a braking action to prevent too easy rotation of the shaft. It will, of course, be understood that this braking action is not sufficient to prevent manual rotation of the shaft.

Instead of driving the machine by a motor as shown it may be driven from a line shaft. In such case, it may be desired to extend the belts 8 and 9 at a suitable angle or one different than 1s possible in the described organicontinuously driving the reversing mechanism. It will also be appreciated that by making these supporting members for the housing of the reversing mechanism adjustable, it is possible to adjust the housing to different inclinations as may be desired.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

l.' In a reversing` mechanism, a driving shaft, a fast pulley on said shaft, a loose pulley on each side of said fast pulley, a pair of belts trained over a pair of said pulleys, a shifter member for each belt, each shifter member having a recess, a rockable shaft, an arm on said shaft for engaging said shifter members, a bifurcated member on said shaft, a rotatable device for alternately actuatingI said bifurcated member in opposite directions, a shaft for supporting said rotatable device, and a connection between said lastmentioned shaft and one of said loose pulleys.

2. In a reversing mechanism, a driving shaft, a pulley fast upon said shaft, a loose pulley on each side of said fast pulley, a pair of belts trained over a pair of said pulleys, a shifter element connected to each belt, each shifter element having a recess, a rockable arm having means engageable in said recesses, a shaft for supporting said arm, a bifurcated member on said arm, a rotatable device for actuating said bifurcated member, means including a clutch for operatively connecting said rotatable device and said second mentioned shaft, and manually operated means for simultaneously rocking said last mentioned shaft to neutral position and operating said clutch for disconnecting said rotatable device.

3. In a reversing mechanism, `a driving shaft, a fast pulley on said shaft, a loose pulley on each side of said fast pulley, a pair of belts trained over said pulleys, one of said belts being wider than said fast pulley for overlapping one of said loose pulleys, a shifter element connected to each belt, each shifter element having a. recess, a rockable device having means engageable in said recesses for actuating said shiftable elements, a shaft for supporting said rocha-ble device, a bifurcated member on said shaft, a rotatable device for actuating said bifurcated member, a shaft for supporting the rotatable device, gearing between said shaft and said overlapped pulley, a clutch for connecting said-second mentioned shaft and bifurcated member, and means for simultaneously rocking said second shaft to neutral position and releasing said clutch.

4. In a drying machine of the class described, a reversing mechanism comprising shiftable elements, an arm for successively shifting said elements, a shaft for supporting said arm, driving mechanism for said shaft including a clutch, a member slidable with respect to said shaft, a connection between said member and clutch, and a connection between said member and shaft whereby the sliding movement of said member will rock said shaft to neutral position and simultaneously declutch said clutch.

5. In a belt shifter, shifter arms, a rockable shaft, a driven member on said shaft, a clutch for connecting said member and shaft, a controlling member upon said shaft for holding same in neutral position, sliding means acting on said controlling member for rotating said shaft to neutral position and means actuated by said sliding member for declutching said clutch.

6. In a drying machine, a reversing mechanism comprising shiftable elements, an arm for successively shifting said elements, a shaft for supporting said arm, driving means for said shaft, a clutch, a member slidable transversely of said shaft, rods operated b v said member for disengaging said clutch, and a device on said shaft operated by said member for rotating said shaft to a predetermined position.

7. In a reversing mechanism for a drying machine, a shaft, means for operating said shaft including a clutch, a device upon said shaft, a slide movable transversely of said shaft for rotating said device to a predetermined position, and means controlled by the movements of said slide for controlling said clutch.

8. In a machine of the class described, a support having an arcuate slot, a shaft, a housing on said shaft having a lug, a bolt adjustably connecting said lug to said slot, a second shaft, a support therefor, and means providing an adjustable connection between said second shaft and support.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ALBERT C. KALK. 

